At SES Chicago, there was an interesting session in which a group of search marketing professionals debated the issue of which is better between PPC and SEO. Participants included Dave Naylor, Chirstine Churchill, Michael Gray, and Karen Weber, and Rand Fishkin.

Churchill pointed to a study from Engine Ready on conversion rates by source of traffic (PPC vs organic). The study found:

- Conversion rates: PPC just barely beat SEO
- Average Order Value: Paid won
- Average time on site: Paid won

She gave the following as advantages of PPC:

- Gives immediate online presence
- Have a new site? Have ads in an hour
- Start getting ROI sooner
- No ramp up time
- Great for seasonal items or time sensitive promotions
- Great for testing
- Easily test effectiveness of new marketing message or site design change
- Quickly gather feedback
- Regulate traffic volume
- Sales pipeline empty? Use PPC to push traffic
- Overloaded? Pause campaigns or cut back spend
- Have limited sales season? Saturate market while demand is high

“PPC is very agile. It’s also has targeting advantages,” said Churchill.

For targeting, she says PPC provides opportunity for high visibility in multiple channels (search engines, content sites, mobile phones), expands results beyond search results, and gives you control over placement on SERPs and better control over landing page/message.

It’s often easier to sell PPC to management because the concept is similar to traditional advertising, and provides for direct accountability. It’s easy to track measures of success. It’s an effective way to drive qualified traffic to your site, and it allows you to expand your opportunities.

Weber says the top five reasons why “PPC rules,” are: speed, flexibility, it’s unlimited, it’s goal-driven, and it’s controllable. You can quickly manipulate keywords to those that drive conversions, you can quickly change bid prices, and you can quickly get in and out of the market. You can turn your campaign on and off, and change ad copy, keywords, etc. You can target a much wider range of keywords, adhere to a budget, and have an immediate impact on sales.

Fishkin pointed out that PPC gets 10% of clicks, but 90% of spend. He said SEO is more challenging and less controllable, but the spend is there and the fact that people click organic results.

Gray said he believes that PPC could make SEO better, but Google is banning people now, so it makes things more challenging. Naylor said he believes SEO is more “open.” Weber and Fishkin both said they would outsource PPC over SEO.

Gray said it’s important to get in the top during the early part of the research phase, especially since Google is personalizing results for everyone now. Churchill noted that Google’s personalization is a better argument for PPC. Like iEntry CEO Rich Ord recently noted, the addition of personalized results could “make people less reliant on organic search results for their traffic and in turn increase their use of Adwords.”

Another point was brought up as we recently discussed - that the search engines are pushing organic listings down with mixed media (blended, universal) results.

Certainly there are many advantages to both PPC and SEO, and they can compliment one another. Actually, a recent study from a couple of NYU Stern professors found that organic search engine results can play a direct role in whether or not a paid listing is clicked.

The more established, high quality, and high Page Rank the website that contains the link is, the more power it has to help the linked website with its search engine position. If the website that is getting backlinks gets many High Quality and High Page Rank backlinks, the better the chance it has of being in a high position on the Search Engines.

In order to get backlinks, many people suggest submitting articles, posting on forums, and making comments on blogs. These are all great ways to get backlinks. However, there are several myths about backlinks that many people believe are true and these myths affect their backlink campaigns and what they do in order to get great backlinks for their websites. Many people reject great backlinks because of these myths.

The first and most prevalent myth about backlinks is that having a link on an “inner page” which has a low or 0 Page Rank inside of a High PR domain will do you no good at all. This is a fallacy. Here is what a friend of mine told me that his friend, who works for Google, has to say about the issue:

I can’t say much without violating my NDC, but I can definitely say this: the PR of a site is always 0 at creation, but at the next PR update (which is supposed tohappen every 3 months, but we’re a bit behind right now), the PR of something like a comment page will usually update to some portion of the PR of the main site. So if you put your site in a link from a PR8 government site, it’ll look like PR 0 for a while, but when it updates to PR 3 or 4,it will become a much more powerful backlink. Of course, for extremely large sites, like example of  Warrior Forum, the PR of the main page is spread so thin that the comment page will still only have a PR 0 –but then, for sites that large and that popular, there are other factors at play that I can’t go into that still make the backlink strong even at PR 0.

When Google’s Matt Cutts was asked about this, he refused a direct answer because he said the question cut too close to Google’s algorithm:

Stephan Spencer: OK. So, I guess, a follow on to that would be: a .edu and .gov link, and so forth, has, typically, a more pristine link neighborhood, so it is not just about the

PageRank, right? The link neighborhood comes into play.

Matt Cutts: That is a little bit of a “secret sauce” question, so I am not going to go into how much we do trust that sort of stuff.

Stephan Spencer: OK. I am going to slap my wrist now. Ouch, ouch!

Matt Cutts: [laughing]

Another myth about backlinks is that you must have only “relevant” backlinks to your website or they won’t count. Nothing could be further from the truth. Sure, it’s good to have relevant links and Google recommends it, but links that are not “relevant” also count. The Drudge Report was put on the “map” the day he broke the news that President Clinton was having an…er, indiscretion with a young intern named Monica Lewinsky. Thousands (maybe even hundreds of thousands) of sites linked to him that day. Many of them were not in his “niche”.

The other day I challenged my friend soccer fan site that I could get him on Page One of Google for his keywords. He was at the bottom of Page 6. I did his links one night and then went to bed. The next day I got up and checked and he was number one in Google for all his keywords. Not one of the sites I added his link to was “relevant” for his fan site keywords or even soccer fan sites. Yet they still worked that well that fast. If you leave out great sites because they are not “relevant” to your niche, you are leaving a lot of potential money on the table.

Another myth that many marketers worry about with backlinks is that you will be penalized for “building your links too fast”. As far as being penalized if you build links too fast, you’d have to have hundreds of thousands of the same kind of links to have that happen.

“Natural Linkbuilding” happens every day. How many links do you think I’d get today if I posted some sort of breaking news about the new US President Barak Obama on my website? What if I knew something about his background that no one else knew?

I guarantee you, I’d get thousands. Back to The Drudge Report, this site was “put on the map” the day he broke the news that President Clinton was having the indiscretion with Monica Lewinsky. Not only did hundreds of thousands of other sites link back to him that day, but many of them were not in the same niche.

This is natural and expected by Google. What is not natural is building thousands and thousands of links all in the same niche in one day. Then, you might be penalized by Google. But unless you are doing that, you have nothing to worry about. Knowing that all of these are myths makes link building a whole lot easier and enjoyable for webmasters.

Google’s algorithm is set up to reward “natural” linkbuilding and if people stay away from any site because all they can get is an “inner page” backlink, or reject sites because they are not in the same niche, or build their backlinks super slowly to avoid “red flags”, then they are actually creating a situation in which they could actually attract more negative notice by Google than if they simply worked at building their backlinks by using great websites that are available to them.

The big trend to create product review sites comes with no surprise given the high conversion rates that are possible with them. They’re the ultimate high converting affiliate site and you can easily build them using WordPress and free or paid Plugins.

The key it to make your review site look legitimate so that visitor’s see your site as trust worthy source of information. This is done with a combination of useful content and usergenerated reviews. The home page of your review site is usually the first impression of your site to most of your visitors. So make that first impression count by adding a comprehensive product comparison chart of the products you’re reviewing.

All the big authority review sites have them and your site should too. It adds value to your visitors and results in higher conversion rates. How do I create a product comparison chart in WordPress? Easy, I just create a custom HTML template that includes <table> tags using an HTML editor and I cut and paste the HTML into a WordPress page. Then I set that page as a static homepage within WordPress. There may be a better way of doing this using CSS but the HTML method works just as good.

I recommend reviewing at least 10 products per product line. The more products you review the more legitimate and trust worthy your site looks. They don’t all have to be affiliate products either.

The best approach for writing your own product reviews is to use “the reporter angle” and simply provide unbiased information about the product such as features, benefits, price, and anything else that may be useful to your visitors.It may take some research to compile all the needed information for the product reviews but you can take some shortcuts by compiling information and summarizing it in your own words from other reviews of the product found online. If writing isn’t your forte then you can always outsource this task to a writer.

For an added touch of “social proof” you can get visitors to leave their feedback or reviews under each of your product reviews. WordPress already has built in user comment functionality so all you have to do is spark off the conversation by adding a call to action that prompts your visitors to leave a comment. Say something like:

“Did you find this review helpful? Tell us what you thought of this product”

You’d be amazed at how many people will actually leave feedback once your site starts generating traffic and gaining momentum. Remember, you don’t have to re-invent the wheel. Just find what’s working for other top review sites and model their format. They’ve already done most the hard work for you.

The Surefire SEO Launch Formula

Each new site you launch needs to have kick start of initial back-links to build up its search engine rankings. Here’s the method I use to get my sites ranked fast…

Step #1: First you want to write of have written 20 (500 word) article that are targeted at the product you’re promoting. These aren’t reviews but more like “how to” articles thatpresent the problem and provide tips for solving that problem. Basically you want to tell your visitor why they should buy the product and how it will help them.Once your articles are ready you want to include a call to action with a keyword targeted text link in your author resource box that points back to your site.

Step #2: Then you need to submit all these articles to the top 20 article directories by hand. Yes, by hand… This is important because it will ensure your sites get a more natural looking link building pattern. So submit each article to each directory over a one week time period.

Step #3: Then you’re going to need 6 more articles to create 2 Squidoo lenses or Hubpages (your choice). Place 3 articles in each lens with pictures for each article for an added touch of visual appeal and link back to your website using your keyword in the text link.

Step #4: Next you’re going to want to submit you site to 500 web directories over a 30 day time period. Again this is better done gradually over time so you don’t have an unnatural burst of incoming links. This step can be outsourced if you find it to tedious and time consuming.

Step #5: Finally you’re going to want to run a small social bookmarking campaign and bookmark your site at the top 10 social bookmarking sites. Spread this out over a 2 weekperiod so you don’t trip any spam filters.There you have it… A surefire way to get your sites ranked well on Google and often times for competitive keywords. Use this formula for each new site you launch. It works like a charm!

Duplicating the Process for Niche Empire Success

Once your first set of affiliate sites is generating traffic and commissions you’ll want to duplicate the process repeatedly by building more and more niche sites. This strategy can be used to penetrate and dominate even the most competitive niches.

To duplicate the process effectively you have to get organized and break down the tasks into smaller modules that can be easily managed. Otherwise you can get quickly overwhelmed. Most of the tasks involved can be outsourced to freelancers living in foreign countries like India and the Philippines hell even in Bosnia where I live for pennies on the dollar.If you’re on a budget then you can save money by re-writing PLR (Private Label Rights) articles and doing the link building yourself until you can afford to have these tasksoutsourced. By using the power of WordPress and these strategies for affiliate marketing there is nodoubt you’ll be well on your way to creating your own successful niche empire.

If you’re ready to take your affiliate business to the next level and start building your own VRE (Virtual Real Estate) empire then this information could take you from earning $1,000 or less per month to making six figures per year in passive income. The “secret” is to work smarter by building, expanding, and duplicating the process over and over again until you’re at the level of income you want.

I’m sure you’ve heard of term “rinse and repeat“. Well, this is the concept in all its glory! It will teach you how to make money online.

First, let’s assume you’re targeting a high demand niche that has a constant flow of hungry prospects eager to buy what you’re offering. This is an essential part of the master plan.You want to position your sites in a prime location where they can benefit from a niche that has a massive amount of consumer spending. This will enable you to increase the scalability and profitability of your business in the long run.

Smaller “less well known” niches that don’t have some sort of mass-appeal won’t be as effective with this strategy but can still prove to be viable. Only your own test results will tell.Think of building a VRE niche empire much like you would a real-estate empire. The more properties you own and control the more money you can make.The same holds true on the internet if you know how to build quality sites with a solid foundation of traffic and incoming links.

To achieve this you need at least a shared hosting account that offers multiple dedicated IP addresses so you don’t leave any footprints that the search engines can follow. Multiple sites in the same niche on the same shared IP address can trigger a red flag to the search engines.

You don’t want to risk getting your sites slapped!

You’re also going to need a system for building sites that can be quickly and easily duplicated without sacrificing quality. For this purpose WordPress is really the best way to go.WordPress has become the easiest to use and most SEO friendly platform for creating affiliate sites hands down. It’s definitely not just for bloggers anymore!

Today’s savvy marketers are using WordPress as their preferred platform for creating affiliate sites.

Why WordPress?

Because not only is it quick to install but themes are easy to modify and customize to your needs. You can turn WordPress into just about any kind of site you want without having it look like a typical blog.Here are two of my favorite types of affiliate sites that can easily be created using WordPress.

Automated Niche Content Portal Sites

These sites are the foundation for your network of niche affiliate sites. They’re like an all-inone niche portal that provides the much needed “link juice” and traffic to new sites until they have enough PR (Page Rank) and incoming links to stand on their own rankings.For building a niche content portal you’re going to need a WordPress theme that looks like a portal site. I’ve found that the magazine style themes like the popular Revolution2 theme work best for these sites.

What’s makes these sites automated is by using RSS feeds to fetch content from a variety of sources and posts it to your site. The content feeds can range from news, articles, videos, podcasts, and any other type of syndicated content available in your niche.Just like any other portal site you can setup categories for each type of media content you use. You can even add links to these categories on your site’s top navigation bar. These content portals are automatically updated with fresh new content that the search engines love. Once you set one of these sites up you can leave it alone and it will continue to generate a steady flow of free traffic and incoming links on auto-pilot. To monetize your niche content portal you can insert affiliate banner ads into the sidebar that are targeted to products in your niche.

But to make money online directly from these sites isn’t the ultimate goal. The beauty of it is being able to leverage the PR (Page Rank) for your “money sites” to help boost their rankings.To find the RSS content feeds to use for your niche portal site all you need to do is download a free RSS reader and search for your niche keywords. Another way to find them is to simply search Google for “keyword +RSS feed” and you should be able to find plenty of them.

Starting your online business seems fairly easy and straight-forward. You determine your niche product, create or buy the products, establish your ecommerce functionality, and optimize your website. Once you establish your business and set up your merchant account, “they will come”.

Right?

Wait, not so fast. You may be right, or you could be wrong! “They will come” IF you have a product that is highly valued and that people are interested in buying. The product must be in demand and it must have something to offer the potential customer above and beyond what they are already receiving from your competition. There must be a compelling reason for people to want to visit your website to begin with.There must also be a way for people to find your website – AND, a way for search engines to identify your site when people are searching. Using the right keywords to attract search engines is one of the most important things you can do as you establish an online business. But it is certainly not the only thing you have to do in order to succeed.Keyword research involves many different components and you will find that you can discover an enormous amount of information about your niche product by simply evaluating keywords. Using the appropriate online tools, you can find out:

• how many people are searching for particular keywords
• which websites are competitors to your product
• how competitors are using the keywords
• whether paid clicks are a good strategy
• and much more

Before you decide that you have an undying passion to create an online niche business around antique clocks, you must determine whether or not there is a demand and enough space in the niche market for another website on antique clocks.

Selecting a profitable niche and marketing an informational product to your targeted audience starts with a thorough evaluation of multiple products. Once you have thoroughly exhausted multiple sources for brainstorming your product, your keyword research begins in earnest.

It’s important to approach the creation and development of your online business with a positive attitude. Your attitude can determine whether or not you succeed or fail. The world of online marketing is exciting and ever-changing. It requires that you focus on your research and continually look for ways to refine your niche product offering to ensure you are also providing value-added, fresh, new information and products to your niche market.Approach your business with an open-mind, full of questions and looking for answers that will help you sell. After all, an online marketer’s goal is to make money and the best way to make money is to always listen to your market. You will be more successful when you have a positive attitude and you’ll find valuable information in every customer interaction you have.

1. Bloglines
2. Blinklist
3. BlogMarks
4. Co.mments
5. Clipmarks
6. Digg
7. Del.icio.us
8. Dzone
9. Facebook
10. Fark
11. Furl
12. Faves
13. Google Bookmarks
14. HaoHao
15. Kaboodle
16. LinkaGoGo
17. Linkswarm
18. MyBookmarks
19. Mister-Wong
20. Ma.gonlia
21. MyBlogLog
22. Newsvine
23. Netvouz
24. Propeller
25. PlugIM
26. Reditt
27. StumbleUpon
28. Squidoo
29. Slashdot
30. Simpy
31. Spurl
32. Sphere
33. ShoutWire
34. Spotplex
35. Spotback
36. Technorati
37. Taggly
38. Tailrank

Set the lowest selling price for your high price item
To sell your expensive item on ebay, you must first know the lowest price you are willing to accept for your item. You can follow this three simple steps to determine the lowest price of your item:

1. Have your high priced item evaluated to determine what the actual market value is.
2. Next, look for similar items from past auctions at eBay to find out how much those items sold for.
3. Finally, determine what the value of the item is to you. With this information, you should be able to determine the lowest amount you are willing to sell the item for.

Use the reserve price feature of ebay to attract potential buyers
Once you have determined the lowest price, you can starting setting your reserve price in your auction (On eBay, the reserve price is the lowest price that you are willing to sell for your item). And then set your opening bid price no more than $50 – no matter how high your reserve price is. This is an ebay marketing tactic. It will be difficult to catch the attention of targeted buyers to an auction for an item selling for hundreds or thousands of dollars. But setting your opening bid less than $50 will make getting targeted prospects to view your auction a lot more easier. With the reserve price feature, you don’t have to sell the item to the buyer with the highest bid if the highest bid price hasn’t reach your reserve price unless you choose to do so at the close of the auction. This method of price setting resembles marketing tactic applied by offline businesses that are simply designed to ‘get customers in the door.’

Item description and details
The item description for your listing is very important. so you should spend some time to work out a good description. Try to use words that really describe your item well. Provide as many details as possible, including details that prove the authenticity of collectible items. Include pictures of the item as well. Be honest to your potential buyers. If the item has marks or scratches, tell them and make sure that the pictures convey this as well. Provide packing and shipping details. Also let potential buyers know that shipping insurance must be purchased as well in case the item is damaged once it leaves your possession.

Offer an escrow service
The majority of eBay buyers feel more comfortable using an escrow service when purchasing expensive items. so you can offer this as an option in your auction and let your buyers know that they have to pay extra if they want to use the service. This protects both parties from fraud, and it makes many buyers more secure to pay to obtain the item. eBay always struggle to secure the transactions between buyers and sellers, so they have partnered with an escrow service that is commonly used for high price items.